Water and ice

It has been a while since residents of McMurdo have been able to look out their windows and see this much open water. In the 1990s, every few years we would have extensive open water and eventually, in late February or March, the sea ice would blow out, leaving the whole area open until the sea ice started to form again in April, as winter started to set in. For the last few years, I would tales of whale watching from Hut Point and the new folks would look at me as if I were dreaming. Since the large iceberg, B-15, broke off the Ross Ice Shelf and blocked McMurdo Sound, the sea ice around McMurdo has not broken up. The sea ice has beeen getting thicker every year, creating quite a challenge for the ice breakers. It's also hard to create a runway for planes on crudy old ice, so as far as logistics are concerned, it's a great year when the sea ice goes out and we get to start "fresh". Many people are optimistic about the eventual departure of this ice that is still hanging around McMurdo Sound. For now the ice breaker has created a notch to extend the ship channel so that they can use this as a runway next year, just in case the sea ice sticks around for yet another year. It's hard to imagine that next summer planes will be landing where it's water now...

They are starting to load the scientific samples onto the resupply ship. I just heard that one of the boxes contains a seal carcass! There is always something interesting happening here!